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August 28, 2005
There oughta be a law
I know what I am about to say is completely contradictory to the very idea behind the device in question, but I believe people ought to pass some sort of test to be able to use the self-checkout machine they have at the supermarket.
It seems to me that fully one quarter of the population has no idea how to use these things. Part of the blame goes to the manufacturer of the machine. What is the purpose of making the consumer put the recently scanned items onto another platform which weighs your purchases and determines if you are trying to steal something? (I know it's because they don't want you to steal things - but that is why they have a person monitoring all the self check-out stations.) I would say half the holdups in the self-checkout aisle are from people who get confused when it says "please remove item from basket" or whatever after you scan something.
But back to the general idiocy of people. I myself do not understand what the hold-up is, but everytime I go to the market and stand in the self checkout aisle, there are one or two oafs who stare blankly at the screen while trying to scan their bag of Doritos and six pack of Pepsi. Usually, the poor guy working the aisle has to come bail the fellow out. Other times people can't figure out where to put their money, or how to scan fruit, or how to input something manually.
I am particularly peeved at this right now because I was at the Jewel-Osco on Ashland Ave, and I waited a whole ten minutes in the self checkout aisle to purchase my one item, while one lady struggled with the machine and another man couldn't figure out how to buy eight cases of Red Bull. (Going to a rave, perhaps?)
Certain activists will argue that this makes a case for keeping the supermarket cashier around. I am one to believe this. Disclosure: one glorious summer, I was a cashier at the local Kroger. I can't really say what I enjoyed about it so much (since I was often stuck with a 5 pm to midnight shift), but it was fun. And people honestly have no idea how to scan a can of soup. I think I enjoyed the mindless monotony of it all, while being able to talk to random people.
So as I stood in line, waiting for the Red Bull guy to finish (he was still going strong as I left), I began thinking about making people take a test to be able to use the self-checkout machine. It would save those of us who are tech-savvy the impatience of watching a person engaged in a deathmatch with the machine. Granted, I would be pissed off that I had to take a test to use it, but I also had to take a test to use the internet at the library. I mean, *I* had to go to training to operate the checkout station at Kroger, so why shouldn't other people?
When the line moved swiftly because everyone was a certified self-checkout aisle user, I would say "it was worth it." Until then, I suppose I will be stuck with the age old quandary of which line to stand in. If past experience is any indication, it will, of course, be the wrong one.
Posted by oz115 at August 28, 2005 08:32 PM
Comments
I always pick the wrong lines when I try to utilize self-checkout. So unless it's completely empty, I just go to a regular line. Seems to be more efficient anyway.
Then there was that time that I watched a guy pay $3.00 for a 20 oz. soda and a small pack of gum...he didn't realize that his girlfriend had scanned the soda twice, and obviously really sucked at math.
Posted by: Anita at August 29, 2005 09:21 AM